-- Dec 15, 1992 A gospel literacy effort sponsored by the Relief Society to help increase literacy throughout the Church was announced in a letter from the First Presidency to priesthood and Relief Society leaders. (1)

-- Dec 26, 1992 The Tabernacle Choir left on a tour of the Holy Land. Concerts were later held in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. (1)

[Journalism in Utah] Broadcasting and Cable Market Place for 1992 listed 90 AM and FM radio stations in Utah, including fifteen non-commercial stations affiliated in most cases with school districts. Few stations maintained their own news staffs. (5)

[Journalism in Utah] By 1992 Utah had eleven television stations, three of them educational. Cable systems blanketed the state, and owners of backyard satellite dishes picked up additional channels. KSL, a pioneer in teletext, offered many pages of text each day; it could be received on computers as well as on television sets. (5)

[Media] The Church wins a national Emmy Award for the Homefront, Splash. (6)

[Third Parties in Utah] Cook, who briefly flirted with returning to the Republican ranks, was the Independent party candidate for governor again in 1992, again running unsuccessfully. (8)

[Utah Education] As a consequence of an emphasis on large families, the education system also must bear the burden of having the highest pupil-per-teacher ratio in the nation: in 1992 it was 23.8, as compared with the national average of 15.9. Its teachers rank forty-fourth in the nation in terms of salary levels, but when career ladder awards are included they rank thirty-ninth. (9)

[Utah Education] Public schools in Utah do, present the state with some unique problems because (as of 1992) education consumes a larger proportion (48.4 percent) of tax revenues in Utah than in any other state. This is in large measure due to the Mormon emphasis on large families and a consistently high birthrate. And it also means that Utah has the lowest expenditure per student in the nation ($2,993 compared to the national average of $5,261) but the state also ranks fifth in the percentage of personal income expended for education. As the twentieth century comes to a close the greatest challenge facing Utah is how to balance between the demands of its burgeoning population for quality education and resources available. With one of the most highly consolidated school systems in the nation, Utah actually does more with its resources than many other states. It has the highest proportion of its population in public schools (98.2 percent) than any other state, and leads the na tion in the percentage of the population over twenty-five years of age with a high school diploma. (9)

-- During 1991 [Third Parties in Utah] In the 1991 municipal elections, Socialist Workers party member Nancy Boyasko ran a strong second in Salt Lake City's fourth council district, receiving over 40 percent of the votes cast. (1)

[Utah Education] In 1991, over 23,715 students graduated from public high school--representing 90.3 percent of the 12th-grade students. (2)

-- Apr 09, 1992 [U.S. Religious History] In the newspaper Catholic New York, Cardinal John O'Connor wrote that: "[I]f the Church's authority is rejected on such a crucial question as human life [in the debate over abortion], ...then questioning of the Trinity becomes child's play, as does the divinity of Christ or any other Church teaching." (3)

-- Aug 15, 1992 Commemorating the "second rescue" of the ill-fated Willie and Martin handcart pioneers, President Hinckley dedicated three monuments in central Wyoming. The Riverton Wyoming Stake researched family histories and performed temple ordinances for those pioneers whose work was not previously done. (4)

-- Aug 30, 1992 The Church's 1,900th stake, the Orlando Florida South Stake, was organized by Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve. (4)

-- Sep 26, 1992 The First Presidency authorized the use of humanitarian relief funds to be sent to Somalia and other African nations in the grip of the drought of the century. In an initial response, one million pounds of food was shipped. (4)

-- Sep 30, 1992 Hartford Connecticut (Efforts discontinued) Temple; Location: Hartford, Connecticut; Announcement: 30 September 1992; Notes: In 1995 efforts towards construction were abandoned and it was announced that 2 temples would be built instead: the Boston Massachusetts Temple and the White Plains New York Temple (below). (5)

White Plains New York (Efforts suspended) Temple; Location: Harrison, New York; Announcement: 30 September 1995; Notes: Along with the Boston Massachusetts Temple, it was to be built instead of the Hartford Connecticut Temple. Reportedly, efforts were still underway in 2004, though delayed by lawsuits and objections by local officials. However, this temple was removed from the list on the Church's official temple website soon after the dedication of the Manhattan New York Temple. (5)

-- Oct 8, 1992 The Church was legally recognized in Tanzania. (4)

-- Nov 04, 1992 [U.S. Religious History] Argued: Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah When this case was decided, the Court unanimously invalidated city ordinances outlawing animal sacrifices. (3)

-- Nov 21, 1992 Young Women from all over the world join in a day of service as part of the "Young Women Worldwide Celebration". It was titled, 'Walk In The Light'. (6)

-- Dec 6, 1992 The Church reached a milestone of 20,000 wards and branches with the creation of the Harvest Park Ward in the Salt Lake Granger South Stake. (4)

The total number of wards and branches worldwide reaches exactly twenty thousand on this day. (6)

-- Sep 1, 1991 Membership in the Church reached 8 million, about two years after membership hit the 7 million mark in December 1989. (2)

Worldwide Church Membership is estimated to have reached eight million [8 000 000], approximately two years after reaching seven million. (3)

-- Dec 7, 1991 The Church announces the release of the "Encyclopedia of Mormonism" in five volumes. Containing at least 1,200 articles by 738 writers it is considered the most comprehensive reference work ever published about the Church. (3)

-- Dec 24, 1991 Virginia Sorensen died on 24 December 1991. (4)

-- 1991 Church Membership at end of year: 8,089,848 New Converts : 328,669 Percent Change from previous year: 4.23% (5)

Church membership exceeded 8 million members. (6)

Encyclopedia of Mormonism published. (7)

Control of Brigham Young University motion picture studio passes to Audiovisual Department of the Church. (8)

[Lowell Bennion] Together with is wife Merle he received the Presidential Citation from Brigham Young University at the August Commencement 1991. (9)

[Mormon Tabernacle Choir] The 1991 tour was significant, marking the choir's first appearances in Eastern and Slavic Europe, coinciding with the announcement of legal recognition for the LDS Church in the (then) Soviet Union. Audiences in Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Moscow, and Leningrad responded emotionally to American folk music and their own national songs in the highly charged atmosphere of new-found freedoms. (10)

Relief Society is the women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Every adult female member of the church is considered a Relief Society member, a total in 1991 of three million women in more than 14,500 church units in 135 countries. (11)

-- Mar 1, 1991 Church forms an Audiovisual Department, consolidating all Church-owned audiovisual facilities and the audiovisual efforts in areas such as missionary work, Church education, and curriculum. (1)

-- Apr 19, 1991 Recognition of the Church in the Ivory Coast, the center of French West Africa, was announced at a special meeting of Church members in Abidjan. (2)

-- During April 1991 [Mormon Tabernacle Choir] Richard Elliott was appointed in April 1991 to fill the vacancy created by Cundick's retirement later that year. (3)

-- May 1, 1991 The 500,000th full-time missionary in this dispensation was called. (2)

500,000th missionary called. (4)

,000th full-time missionary in this dispensation called. (1)

The Church Calls the 500000th [Five Hundred Thousandth] Full Time Missionary, in this dispensation. (5)

-- May 26, 1991 The 1,800th stake in the Church, the San Francisco de Macoris Dominican Republic Stake, was created. (2)

-- Jun 8, 1991 The Tabernacle Choir embarked on a 21-day tour of eight European countries, including five countries in which the choir had not performed before: Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Soviet Union. (2)

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir begins a 21 day tour of 8 European Countries. (5)

-- Jun 24, 1991 The Russian Republic, the largest in the Soviet Union, granted formal recognition to the Church following the Tabernacle Choir's concert in Moscow's Bolshoi Theater. (2)

-- During 1990 s Church retains the services of Edelman Agency, a world wide public relations firm, â•to takes its message to broader audiences and, in the words of its head, Dan Edelman, â—to correct the myths and falsehoods about the Church.â˜ (1)

[Journalism in Utah] However, news staffs that had grown at Salt Lake's major stations during the 1970s were cut back as the 1990s approached, and local documentary and magazine-type programming faced an uncertain future. Broadcast journalism should continue, but perhaps in a more limited form. (3)

[Mormon Tabernacle Choir] Such added responsibilities led in 1990 to the appointment of Donald Ripplinger as the first full-time associate conductor. (5)

Directives from the central administrators, headed by Elaine L. Jack (1990-present), require each local group independently to undertake an ongoing program of community service. This move acknowledges a diversification of Relief Society efforts, enabling local units to address local problems. (6)

[Salt Lake] The city's population in 1990 was 159,936. (7)

[Sugar Industry] In 1990, Amalgamated Sugar was the second largest producer of beet sugar in the United States, with sales grossing $400 million per year. (8)

The University of Utah's regular and auxiliary faculty are among the nation's most prolific researchers. The University has research connections worldwide and ranks among the top twenty-five American colleges and universities in funded research. In 1970 the University acquired land immediately adjacent to the campus and developed a research park, which in 1990 houses fifty-seven companies many of which grew out of faculty research. (9)

-- During 1990s [Utah Coal Mining] The recession of the 1990s, exacerbated by environmental concerns and growing mechanization, has increased local unemployment despite fairly steady production levels. The last coal company, Hiawatha, is falling to bulldozers. (10)

-- During 1990 [Utah Immigration] Immigrants and their children maintained the language and cultural heritage of their native lands to a limited degree, while most became an integral part of the larger society and acquired fluency in English. The 1990 federal census indicated that approximately 120,400 Utah residents over the age of five spoke a language other than English in the home. Of these, 87 percent also spoke English "well" or "very well." Most of those maintaining the use of the mother tongue were immigrants and their children, although some were Native Americans and Hispanic families with deep roots in the American Southwest. Spanish was spoken at home by nearly 52,000 persons, and German by more than 11,000. (11)

[Utah Republican Party] Despite the reelection of Wayne Owens to Congress in 1990, and the upset election of Bill Orton in Utah's Third Congressional District, Republicans were still the dominant party in the state's politics entering into the last decade of the twentieth century. (12)

-- During 1990s [Ute Indians] In the 1990s, the Northern Ute Tribe boasts nearly 3,000 members and is an increasingly powerful force in local and state politics. They are active in maintaining their language and cultural traditions while improving the economic situation of tribal members through education, tribal enterprises, and planned development. (13)

-- Nov 30, 1990 The government of Ghana gave permission for the Church to resume activities in that West African country. (1)

-- During 1990 November The First Presidency announced in November a new policy for United States and Canada, effective Jan. 1, 1991, that would equalize contributions required to maintain a full-time missionary. (1)

Cost for funding missionaries equalized for all fields of labor. (2)

-- 1990 Church Membership at end of year: 7,761,179 New Converts : 452,735 Percent Change from previous year: 6.19% (3)

[Daughters of Utah Pioneers] The DUP is administered by a National Board whose headquarters are located in the Pioneer Memorial Museum located at 300 North Main in Salt Lake City. Beside the National Board the Daughters are further broken down into companies who have a presiding board which oversees the activities of camps (ten members or more) in a geographic area. In 1990 the DUP consisted of 155 companies overseeing the activities of 1,012 camps in 17 states and Canada with a total living membership of 23,000. Totally the organization has had 63,000 members in its ninety-year history. (4)

[Democrats in Utah] In 1990, Utah Democrats re-elected Wayne Owens in the second district, and surprised most local commentators by electing Bill Orton to an open seat in congress from the strongly Republican Third Congressional District, while running a strong race in the First Congressional District. (5)

26, new missionaries sent out. (6)

Bonneville Media Communications changes its name to Bonneville Communications. (6)

By the end of this year, there are 44 operating temples, of which are outside the U.S. . (6)

By this date, there are more than 2, Church satellite dishes in North America alone that receive General Conference. (6)

Church by now organized in 128 nations; 1, stakes (more than Â¾ outside of Utah; more than a third of Church members lived in foreign (non- U.S.) countries: 16% in South America; 11% in Mexico and Central America; and 5% in Asia. (6)

-- During 1989 [Labor in Utah] The decline continued, with approximately 8.5 percent of the Utah non-agricultural labor force unionized in 1989. (1)

-- During early 1990s [Democrats in Utah] Although still in a distinct minority in state offices, and still exhibiting the division between its conservative and liberal wings, by the early 1990s, Utah Democrats seemed stronger and more politically viable than they had for nearly two decades. (2)

-- During January 1990 Family Registry 787 (microfiche) and FamilySearch 788 (CD-ROM) introduced at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. (3)

[U.S. Religious History] In New York, Auxiliary Bishop Austin Vaughn declared that New York Governor Mario Cuomo, a Catholic, was in "serious risk of going to hell" because he believed that abortion was a matter of individual women's conscience. (4)

-- During early 1990s [Utah Immigration] Everyone who has migrated to Utah from another area is, in a sense, an immigrant. By the early 1990s more than 200,000 individuals had left their native lands with Utah as their destination, and thousands more had moved to Utah after initial settlement elsewhere in the United States or Canada. (5)

-- Feb 25, 1990 The Church was officially recognized in Kenya. (6)

-- Apr 2, 1990 A new Church software package called FamilySearch, designed to simplify the task of family history research, was released by the Church. (6)

FamilySearch(tm) database became available at Family History Centers throughout the Church. (7)

-- May 21, 1990 The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision that money given directly to missionaries was not a deductible donation under federal tax law. The Church encouraged members to follow established procedures of contributing through their wards. (6)

-- During 1990 July New missions in the Eastern European countries of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland highlighted the record 29 missions created in 1990. (6)

-- Oct 05, 1989 [U.S. Religious History] Jim Bakker was convicted of using his television show to defraud his viewers. (1)

-- Oct 17, 1989 The first LDS meetinghouse in the Republic of Hungary, located in the capital city of Budapest, was dedicated by President Thomas S. Monson. (2)

-- Oct 24, 1989 [U.S. Religious History] Jim Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $500,000. Many considered this judgement to be particularly harsh and, 1991, his sentence was reduced to eighteen years and he was released on parole after a total five years in prison. (1)

-- Oct 31, 1989 [U.S. Religious History] Argued: Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. Board of Equalization of California Should religious organizations be totally exempt from taxation because the collection of such taxes violates both the Free Exercise and the Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment? (1)

-- Nov 9, 1989 The Berlin Wall came down, paving the way for eventual unification of East and West Germany. (2)

-- Nov 25, 1989 [Financial] The church announces that the expenditures of local units -- wards and stakes -- will now be paid by annual budget allowances from church tithing funds, ending the established practice of having members pay many local costs. (3)

A major change in policy for financing local Church units in the United States and Canada was announced by the First Presidency. Ward members would no longer have stake and ward budget assessments. (2)

Church announced discontinuance of stake and ward budget assessments; budgets to be funded entirely by tithing. (4)

-- Dec 2, 1989 The worldwide Church membership reaches seven million on this day. (5)

The creation of the Second Quorum of the Seventy is announced at April General Conference. (2)

-- May 16, 1989 The BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies was dedicated by President Howard W. Hunter of the Quorum of the Twelve. (3)

-- Jun 14, 1989 LDS missionaries and those of the Jehovah's Witnesses were expelled from Ghana, a western Africa nation where 6,000 Church members live. The Church had no advance notice of the ban. The LDS missionaries were able to return to Ghana in 1990. (3)

-- Jun 15, 1989 Ground was broken for the first LDS meetinghouse in Poland. (3)

-- Jun 25, 1989 The 100th stake in Mexico was created in Tecalco. Mexico became the first country outside the United States with 100 or more stakes. (3)

-- Jun 27, 1989 The renovated Carthage Jail complex in Illinois, where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred, was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley, highlighting activities commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Mormon settlement of Nauvoo, Ill. (3)

-- During June 1989 [U.S. Religious History] Jerry Falwell announced that the Moral Majority would disband and shut down its offices. (4)

-- Jul 02, 1989 [U.S. Religious History] Reverend George A. Stallings, Jr., a black Roman Catholic priest, defied the orders of his archbishop and established an independent African-American Catholic congregation in Washington, D.C. Stallings argued that he wasn't setting up a schismatic church and instead was simply trying to create a mode of worship that was sensitive to the needs of black Catholics. Despite this, he would later declare that his Imani Temple was "no longer under Rome" and would permit things like abortion, divorce, and the ordination of women. This, according to the Vatican, automatically excommunicated Stallings. (4)

-- During July 1989 [Copper Mining] In July 1989, RTZ Corporation, also British owned, acquired BP Minerals Americas interests, renaming the company Kennecott Corporation. The company continues to be a major force and factor in Utah's economy. (5)

-- During 1988 Often informally representing the United States abroad, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was an official cultural ambassador in its 1988 concert tour of New Zealand and Australia celebrating the Australian Bicentenary. (1)

[Third Parties in Utah] In 1988 a businessman and former Republican party candidate Merrill Cook organized the Independent Party of Utah. Championing tax reduction and reducing government spending, Cook polled 136,651 votes for Governor, 21 percent of the total vote cast, attracting support from both Republicans and Democrats. (2)

[Utah Education] The burden on Utah taxpayers for the support of education is significant; however, but in spite of a vigorous campaign waged to cut taxes in 1988, the electorate defeated tax limitation proposals by a wide margin. Historically, the establishment and perpetuation of schools in Utah has been contingent not only on aspirations and ideals but, on the availability of suitable personnel, facilities, and, most importantly, financial support. (3)

[Utah Historical Society] In 1988 the Society started monthly historic sites tours and began a computerized guide to manuscript holdings in Utah. (4)

[Utah Republican Party] During the 1970s and 1980s, Utah stayed firmly in the national Republican orbit, and GOP presidential candidates would carry the state by large majorities in each election from 1968 through 1988. (5)

[Utah Republican Party] Utah gave the highest plurality of any state to presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, the latter proving to be immensely popular among Utah Republicans. In 1988 incumbent Republican Governor Norman Bangerter was reelected in a come-from-behind victory over highly favored Democratic challenger Ted Wilson, former mayor of Salt Lake City. (5)

[Utah Socialist Party] The Socialist party returned to the Utah ballot in 1988 when its presidential ticket of Willa Kenoyer and Ron Ehrenreich was listed on the ballot as independent. (6)

In 1988 the Mormon Church owned 51 percent of ZCMI's stock. (7)

-- Jan 09, 1989 [U.S. Religious History] Decided: Dodge v. Salvation Army Can religious organizations receiving federal, state, and local government funding discriminate against people whose religion they don't like? A district court in Mississippi ruled "no," finding in favor of a pagan and against the Salvation Army. (8)

-- Jan 19, 1989 The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs at the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush, who calls the choir a â•National Treasure. (9)

-- During January 1989 [Mormon Tabernacle Choir] The choir performs at the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush, who calls it a national treasure. (10)

-- Feb 24, 1989 In Utah a 150-million-year-old fossil egg, still inside the mother, was found by CAT scan to contain the oldest dinosaur embryo. (11)

-- Apr 1, 1989-2 The Second Quorum of the Seventy was created and all General Authorities serving under a five-year call were sustained as members, along with another eight newly called General Authorities. (12)

-- Oct 16, 1988 Elder David B. Haight created the 1,700th stake of the Church. The new stake was in Manaus, Brazil, a city of 1.5 million in the heart of the Amazon jungle. (2)

-- Oct 24, 1988-28 President Thomas S. Monson led a delegation of Church leaders that met with the German Democratic Republic's top government officials. It was announced Nov. 12 that the Church had been granted rights to send missionaries to the DDR and for LDS members from the DDR to serve as missionaries in other countries. (2)

-- During October 1988 President Ezra Taft Benson calls on Church members to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon. (3)

-- 1988 Church Membership at end of year: 6,721,210 New Converts : 326,896 Percent Change from previous year: 5.11% (5)

[BYU] In the 1988 fall term Brigham Young University enrolled 26,986 day students, plus extension and other special categories students. They were offered eighty-five different majors through eleven colleges and two professional schools served by almost 1,700 full- and part-time faculty, 2,100 administrative and full-time personnel, and 9,000 part-time student employees in over 500 academic, administrative, residential, and support buildings. During that school year 5,869 degrees were awarded, including 955 master's and 243 doctoral degrees. At the year's end Rex E. Lee became president of this prominent educational institution. (6)

[Freemasonry in Utah] Each year, the Utah Grand Lodge, through its Masonic Foundation, disburses an ever-increasing sum for the support of colleges and universities, public broadcasting stations, hospitals, medical research, and student loans and grants, among other contributions. In 1984 these benevolences totaled $100,564; in 1988 they were $144,844, exclusive of the philanthropic activities of the thirty-one current lodges and other related bodies, each of which selects and supports its own beneficiaries; and exclusive of contributions of individual Masons. (7)

-- During 1988-1997 [Fundamentalist] Alma A. Timpson, Leader, Centennial Park "Second Ward". Under Leroy Johnson's leadership, Marion Hammon and Alma Timpson were dismissed from the Short Creek community in 1983; they went on to create the "Second Ward" in Centennial Park, Arizona, so named to distinguish it from the FLDS Church, which they call the "First Ward". (8)

-- During 1988 The BYU Folk Dancers were the only North American dance company to perform at opening ceremonies of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, viewed by an estimated 1 billion people worldwide. (2)

There are 14, Church converts in Africa. (3)

[Histories of Utah] A one-volume history: Wayne K. Hinton's Utah: Unusual beginning to Unique Present (1988) - an oversize coffee table book, filled with pictures, many in color, the popular and well-written text briefly covered most periods and subjects. (9)

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is honored with a Freedom Foundation Award for its contributions to promoting patriotic pride in America. (10)

-- May 28, 1988 The First Presidency issued a statement on the subject of AIDS, stressing chastity before marriage, fidelity in marriage, and abstinence from homosexual behavior, yet extending sympathy to those who have contracted the disease. (1)

-- During May 1988 [U.S. Religious History] The United Methodist Church formally rejected the notion or value of pluralism when, during the General Conference in St. Louis, Bishop Jack Tuell declared "The time has come to say the last rites over the notion that the defining characteristic of United Methodist theology is pluralism." This was just one of many examples of Protestant groups in America turning towards more conservative theological, social, and political stances. (5)

-- Jun 1, 1988 The Church was granted legal recognition in Hungary, the first of several such steps in Eastern European nations during the next two years. (1)

-- Aug 10, 1988 [Topaz Japanese-American Relocation Center] On 10 August 1988 President Ronald Reagan signed a redress bill into law, issuing an apology to those interned and calling on Congress to budget compensation for the survivors. (6)

-- During 1988 August The Church reached the milestone of having completed 100 million endowments for the dead. (1)

-- During September 1988 The National Interfaith Cable Coalition, of which the Church is a founding member, launches a cable television channel called Vision Interfaith Satellite Network. VISN carries several Church programs and specials. The name is later changed to VISN/ACTS Network in October 1992 and changed again to Faith and Values Channel in 1994. (2)

[Histories of Utah] A history of Utah came in connection with the KUED-TV educational television series on Utah history written by and featuring Dean L. May. The series was successful and the text was published as a companion volume under the title, Utah: A People's History (1987). Popular and personal, the work gave due attention to all the people who came to Utah, emphasized the territorial period, and gave brief attention to the twentieth century. (2)

[Leonard J. Arrignton] Arrington served as director of this institute until his retirement in 1987. His book Brigham Young; American Moses won the prestigious Evans biography award. (3)

[Mormon Tabernacle Choir] Over 100 record albums include a National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences "Grammy" award (1959) for Wilhousky's arrangement of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and Grammy nominations in 1967 and 1987. Five "gold" and two "platinum" records have been awarded to the choir. (4)

[Utah Higher Education] The state system has added several schools-namely, a branch of Utah State Agricultural College in Price, now the College of Eastern Utah, and two technical and vocational training facilities that began in the aftermath of World War II and became comprehensive community colleges in 1987. Salt Lake Community College and Utah Valley Community College brought the number of state public institutions of higher education to nine. (5)

-- Jan 28, 1988 A 13-day standoff in Marion, Utah, between police and a polygamist clan ended in gunfire that killed a state corrections officer and seriously wounded the group's leader, Addam Swapp. (7)

-- Jan 30, 1988-31 Seven stakes were created in one weekend in Lima, Peru, by Elder Charles Didier of the Seventy. (8)

-- Feb 21, 1988 [U.S. Religious History] During a live TV broadcast, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart admitted that he had visited a prostitute and announced that he would leave his ministry for an unspecified length of time. In April of that same year his Assemblies of God denomination defrocked him and ordered him to stay off television for a year, but he returned much sooner. (6)

-- Feb 24, 1988 [U.S. Religious History] The United States Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that Jerry Falwell could not collect damages for a parody that appeared in the magazine Hustler. (6)

-- Apr 08, 1988 [U.S. Religious History] Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart was defrocked by the Assemblies of God after it was revealed that he was involved with a prostitute. Swaggart was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but returned anyway after just three months. (6)

-- During April 1988 Church President Gordon B. Hinckley receives the NAACP Distinguished Service Award. (1)

-- During August 1987 For most of twentieth century, the Hotel Utah not only serviced travelers but anchored the community as well. Everything that was anything was held there. However, local interest and convention business was not enough to keep this classy lady in her leading role as Utah's premier hotel. A National Historic Site, the Hotel Utah was closed in August 1987, and its owner, the LDS Church, announced plans to convert the facility to offices and community meeting halls. (1)

[U.S. Religious History] In New Hampshire, a United Methodist Church court suspended Rose Mary Denman, a lesbian minister, because she violated a church rule which prohibited practicing homosexuals from being in the clergy. (2)

-- Sep 4, 1987 A letter from the First Presidency announced the discontinuance of the International Mission. Responsibility for its areas reverted to the respective area presidencies of the Church. (3)

-- Oct 01, 1987 [U.S. Religious History] Pat Robertson announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for president. (2)

-- During October 1987 [U.S. Religious History] The Federal Election Commission imposed a $6,000 fine on Jerry Falwell because he illegally transferred $6.7 million in funds intended for his religious ministry to his various political efforts. (2)

-- Nov 30, 1987 [U.S. Religious History] Argued: Lyng v. Northwest Indian CPA By a 5-3 vote the Supreme Court would allow a road to be built through sacred Indian lands. The Court did acknowledge that the road would in fact be devastating to their religious practice, but simply found this to be regrettable. (2)

-- During November 1987 [U.S. Religious History] Jerry Falwell announced that he was resigning as head of the Moral Majority, retiring from politics completely, because he wanted to spend more time with his Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, and his television ministry. (2)

-- 1987 Church Membership at end of year: 6,394,314 New Converts : 227,340 Percent Change from previous year: 3.69% (4)

[Copper Mining] The copper industry suffered into the 1970s; in 1987 the company was sold to BP Minerals America, a British-owned affiliate of the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. (5)

-- Between 1987 and 1988 [Copper Mining] Between 1987 and 1988 Kennecott invested $400 million to modernize facilities at the Utah Copper Division, making them highly efficient. (5)

-- Mar 12, 1987 It was announced that the Church-owned Hotel Utah, a landmark in downtown Salt Lake City for 76 years, would close as a hotel Aug. 31 and be renovated as a meetinghouse and office building. (2)

-- Mar 19, 1987 [U.S. Religious History] Jim Bakker resigned as head of the PTL ministry after the revelation of a 1980 sexual affair a with church secretary, Jessica Hahn. (3)

-- Apr 20, 1987 [U.S. Religious History] In Columbus, Ohio, three smaller Lutheran groups merged to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), becoming the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S. It was not officially incorporated, however, until the next year. (3)

-- During June 1987 [U.S. Religious History] Televangelist Oral Roberts claimed that he had raised numerous people from the dead. (3)

-- Jul 15, 1987 The Genealogical Library celebrated the conversion of the last card from its card catalog to computer. (2)

-- Jul 24, 1987-26 Church members throughout Britain commemorated the 150th anniversary of the first missionary work in Great Britain. Thirteen General Authorities, including President Ezra Taft Benson and President Gordon B. Hinckley, attended various events, which included dedication of historical sites, firesides and conferences. (2)

-- Jul 26, 1987 Church Members celebrate 150 years in the British Isles. (4)

-- Aug 15, 1987 The Church's Genealogical Department was renamed the Family History Department. (2)

-- Aug 27, 1987 [U.S. Religious History] Jamie Dodge of Mississippi was fired from her job at the Salvation Army because she was Pagan. She later filed suit against the Salvation Army for religious discrimination and won. (3)

-- Aug 28, 1987 [Capital Punishment] Lethal injection was introduced in Utah with the death of Pierre Dale Selby, on 28 August 1987. He was sentenced to die for killing three people in Ogden's HiFi Shop thirteen years earlier, and was the second black to be executed in Utah. Also two Hispanics and two Indians have been executed; all the others have been white men. Of the forty-seven executed men, twenty-five were non-Mormons, and eight Mormons; the religion of fourteen could not be specifically ascertained. The ages of those executed ranged from eighteen to sixty-four years of age--the age of John D. Lee when he was executed after being returned to the scene of the Mountain Meadows Massacre for execution, twenty years after the crime occurred. (5)

-- During 1986 Church President Ezra Taft Benson emphasizes the necessity for members to read the Book of Mormon as â•the keystone of our religion. (1)

The Uniform System for Teaching the Gospel is publishedâ"a new set of missionary discussions based on a commitment pattern. (1)

[Leonard J. Arrignton] He also served as president of the Western History Association, the Agricultural History Society, and the Pacific Coast branch of the American History Association. In 1986 he was named a Fellow of the Society of American Historians. (2)

[Lowell Bennion] When Bennion received the Good Samaritan Award in 1985 from Utahns Against Hunger, Charles Johnson, executive director of United Way, said, "He's a combination of an Old Testament prophet, who wants to give you his vision of what should be, and New Testament good Samaritan, who doesn't stand back and talk, but steps in to do the good work himself." Bennion also has received many other honors, including an honorary doctorate at the University of Utah (1982) and establishment there in 1986 of the Lowell L. Bennion Center for Community Service, election to Utah's Beehive Hall of Fame (1987), the Richard D. Bass award for Distinguished Service by a Utahn in the Humanities (1988), and the Caring Award (1989), given in Washington, D.C., to ten Americans who had most exemplified practical human service. (3)

[Media] The Church wins a national Emmy Award for the Homefront, The Practice. (4)

-- During (1986- [Utah Historical Society] Director Max Evans (1986- ) has built upon efforts to bring the Society to local communities by involving volunteer special interest groups in planning annual meetings. (6)

-- During 1986 [Utah Republican Party] From 1974 until 1986 no major office in Utah changed from Republican to Democratic hands. During those same years, Republicans dominated the Utah congressional delegation as well as both houses of the state legislature. Two years later, a little-known Salt Lake lawyer, Orrin G. Hatch, emerged from a crowded field as the party nominee for U.S. Senate. (7)

[Ute Indians] Their political clout increased in 1986 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the tribe's right to exercise "legal jurisdiction" over all pre-allotment reservation lands, giving them an undefined amount of legal control over the land and citizens of eastern Utah. (8)

-- During January 1987 [U.S. Religious History] Televangelist Oral Roberts announced that God had informed him that he would be "called home" if he did not raise USD $8 million by March 31 of that year. This money was supposedly needed for missionary work in underdeveloped nations and the plea was evidently successful - a shortfall of over USD $1 million was made up for at the last minute by Jerry Collins, a Florida racetrack owner. (10)

-- Feb 15, 1987 The Tabernacle Choir marked its 3,000th radio broadcast in a series that had become the longest-running network program in the free world. (11)

-- During January 1986 [U.S. Religious History] Jerry Falwell held a press conference in Washington, D.C., in order to announce that he was changing the name of the Moral Majority to the Liberty Foundation. This new title never caught on and was abandoned before long. (1)

-- During March 1986 [U.S. Religious History] Father Charles E. Curran, a moral theologian at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., revealed that the Vatican had given him an ultimatum: retract his views on birth control, divorce, and other matters pertaining to sexuality, or lose the authority to teach Roman Catholic doctrine. Thousands protested this ultimatum and Curran refused to retract; eventually, the Vatican revoked his license to teach as a Catholic theologian and in 1987 he was suspended from Catholic University entirely. (1)

-- Apr 30, 1986 Church membership was estimated to have reached the 6-million member milestone. (2)

Worldwide Church Membership is estimated to have reached Six Million [6 000 000]. (3)

-- Jun 22, 1986 The 1,600th stake of the Church was created by President Monson in Kitchener, Ontario. (2)

-- Jul 6, 1986 New missionary discussions, which focus on "teaching from the heart," were approved for use in all English-speaking missions. (2)

-- Oct 4, 1986 Seventies quorums in stakes throughout the Church were discontinued. (2)

-- Oct 11, 1986 In the first Churchwide Young Women activity, an estimated 300,000 gathered at sites around the world to release helium-filled balloons containing personal messages from the young women. (2)

-- 1986 Church Membership at end of year: 6,166,974 New Converts : 247,491 Percent Change from previous year: 4.18% (6)

[African Americans in Utah] The Utah legislature reluctantly voted in 1986 to make the federal holiday observing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a state holiday. The state holiday is named Martin Luther King/Human Rights Day. The favorable vote was influenced by external considerations as well as broad-based support from a cross-section of the Utah populace. (7)

[Democrats in Utah] Defeats for Governor in 1984 and 1988, and for the U.S. Senate in 1980, 1982 and 1986 seemed to suggest that the party was facing hard times for the foreseeable future. (8)

Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is published in Salt Lake City by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, containing one-third of the original hymns chosen by Emma Smith along with added new material. (4)

[General Religious History] The Battle of the Beanfield forces an end to the Stonehenge free festivals. (5)

[Histories of Utah] S. George Ellsworth's Utah's Heritage came out in 1972. Written for the public schools, it also attracted adult readers. The work was detailed and comprehensive, and based on primary or contemporary sources, newspapers, and monographs. Coverage included geology and geography, prehistoric and historic Indians, and much on the pre-1847 period. Attention was given to non-Mormons and the twentieth century was treated in depth. In 1985 the New Utah's Heritage appeared; the book has been revised, reduced by one-third, and chapters added on minority groups. (6)

[Utah] Jake Garn, is first U.S. Senator to fly in space. (7)

[Utah Historical Society] In 1985 it accepted co-sponsorship of the Utah History Fair. The focus in historic preservation expanded to preservation planning, technical assistance, and a local government certification program. The library added microcopies and tape recordings. (8)

-- Oct 23, 1985 The Church Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City was dedicated by President Hinckley. (2)

Genealogical Library dedicated . (3)

-- Nov 5, 1985 When Spencer W. Kimball passed away on 5 November 1985 Ezra Taft Benson became the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At eighty-six years of age he became the second oldest man to succeed to the presidency. He called lapsed Mormons to return to the fold. In general conference addresses, he counseled church members to read and study the Book of Mormon. In a humanitarian gesture, he personally delivered a contribution of ten million dollars to President Ronald Reagan to be used to procure food for the world's hungry. (4)

President Spencer W. Kimball died in Salt Lake City at age 90. (2)

President Spencer W. Kimball dies. Ezra Taft Benson becomes the 13th president of the church. (1)

[Spencer W. Kimball] Dies in Salt Lake City, Utah. (5)

[Spencer W. Kimball] President Kimball died 5 November 1985. (6)

[Utah] Spencer W. Kimball, president of the Mormon Church, died at age 90; he was succeeded by Ezra Taft Benson. (7)

-- Nov 10, 1985 President Ezra Taft Benson was ordained and set apart as the 13th president of the Church, with President Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson as counselors. (2)

[Quorum of the Twelve] The First Presidency is reorganized, with Ezra Taft Benson President, Gordon B. Hinckley First Counselor, and Thomas S. Monson Second Counselor. Marion G. Romney becomes President of the Quorum. Because Marion G. Romney was suffering from health and age difficulties, Howard W. Hunter was set apart as Acting President of the Quorum. (9)

[Thomas S. Monson] Set apart as second counselor in First Presidency to President Ezra Taft Benson. (10)

-- Jun 29, 1985 Freiberg Germany Temple; Location: Freiberg, Germany; Announcement: 9 October 1982; Dedication: 29 June 1985 by Gordon B. Hinckley; Rededication: 7 September 2002 by Gordon B. Hinckley; Style: Modern, single-spire design with German influence and use of Gothic-style arches; Notes: Originally without an angel Moroni statue, one was installed as part of the 2001-2002 renovations (6)

-- During 1984 Whitney Store restored as historic site in Kirtland, Ohio. (1)

As of this date, church materials have been translated into 72 languages. (2)

The Apple Corporation markets the Macintosh computer. (2)

[Journalism in Utah] Utah's Mormon settlers brought with them a tradition of newspaper publishing. The first periodical for church members, the monthly Evening and the Morning Star, appeared in Independence, Missouri, only seventeen months after the official organization of the Mormon Church, and other publications followed wherever members located. Utah was no exception. A 1984 checklist lists more than 900 newspapers published in Utah to that date, ten of them in foreign languages and two in Braille. (3)

[Mormon Tabernacle Choir] The virtually round-the-clock schedule of the choir's current programs resulted in the appointment of two associate organists--Linda Margetts and Bonnie Goodliffe--in 1984. Originally unpaid volunteers, both have since been given part-time salaried positions, placing them on similar footing with the three full-time organists. (4)

-- During 1984-90 Belle Spafford was followed in office by Barbara Smith (1974-84) and Barbara Winder (1984-90). Local Relief Societies gradually were incorporated into general ward administration, and returned then to an original emphasis, the spiritual development of church women. The visiting teaching program and the involvement of the local Relief Society president with the bishop in ward welfare work echoed early and mid-twentieth-century programs. (6)

[Third Parties in Utah] In 1984 the Citizen's party nominated Sonia Johnson, a native of Logan, who gained public attention for her support of the Equal Rights Amendment and her subsequent excommunication from the LDS Church. Two other Utahns, Lawrence Topham and Earl Jeppson, were unsuccessful candidates on separate occasions for the American party nomination. (8)

[Utah] Record snowfall causes spring flooding and State Street becomes a river for weeks while the Great Salt Lake overflows its shores, destroying crops and covering roads and highways. (9)

-- Jan 27, 1985 Latter-day Saints in the United States and Canada participated in a special fast to benefit victims of famine in Africa and other parts of the world. The fast raised more than $6 million. (10)

-- During January 1985 LDS Humanitarian Services program begins. LDS in U.S. participated in special fast to benefit victims of famine in Africa and other parts of the world. Fast raised more than $46 million. This essentially was the beginning of the Humanitarian Services program of the Church,769 whose mission is to â•offer hope and the potential for a life that transcends disease, poverty, and despair. (2)

-- Feb 14, 1985 [U.S. Religious History] In the United States, the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism formally announced that they would begin to accept women as rabbis. (11)

In 1995, Edward Kimball, son of President Spencer W. Kimball, retired from teaching so that he could devote his efforts to writing the last chapter of his father's life, having previously written a biography of his father (with his brother Andrew E. Kimball) that ended shortly into his father's life as President of the LDS Church.

It was meant to be a last chapter, summing up the remaining years of his father's life, but as Edward wrote the "last chapter" it kept getting longer and longer, until it was no longer recognizable as a final chapter. It instead has become a tribute to his father's administration, and shows President Kimball in a much broader light than a final chapter could have done.

There was a need to finish the story, so work began anew on a more complete biography, one chronicling in extensive detail the years his father spent as President of the Church. His administration, personal relationships, physical maladies, correspondence, as well as a number of ecclesiastical subjects, not the least of these being the revelation in 1978 allowing for all worthy male members of the Church to receive the priesthood, are all covered in this volume. Bookcraft first published a biography on President Kimball in 1977. Simply titled "Spencer W. Kimball," it sold well, selling over 385,000 copies over the years. It worked as a catalyst, showing publishers there was a market for well-written biographies of Church leaders. This first book was well received and served to open up a flood of correspondence from not only the faithful, but those outside of the LDS Church. Many of these recollections were sent to Edward over the years; some of them have been included in this volume.

Background to the publication process is not needed in most cases. In this review, however, I find it necessary to include some details, as part of the story of this publication is the process it went through to reach the final stage culminating in its publication. Though this book details the last years of President Kimball's life, and his administration of the LDS Church, It is not solely devoted to the ecclesiastical duties of his father's Presidency, but also includes many personal details on the last years of his father's life.

The route this book took to being published is a short story in itself. To sum it up, this publication is the zenith of many years of hard work between the author and both publishers. In a nutshell, Deseret Book (the first publisher) didn't want to publish the entire manuscript of "Lengthen Your Stride" due to length and some differences of opinion referring to content. The author, not wanting to lose his "golden words." didn't want to publish only half the story.

Deseret Book and Edward compromised and the first publication included a CD-ROM which included many items of interest including the "Working Draft" (as Edward calls it) of "Lengthen Your Stride." There was an immediate interest among those who read the edited version of "Lengthen Your Stride" to be able to read the complete version without being tethered to a computer to do so. Realizing the demand for a "finished" product that the reader could hold, the owner and publisher of Benchmark Books, Curt Bench, sought and negotiated with Deseret Book and Edward to release a limited edition run of the entire "Working Draft" manuscript. After a period of negotiation, Benchmark Books acquired the rights to publish a limited run of 500 copies of the completed manuscript. Of this they published 400 copies, thirty of which are bound in leather.

The CD-ROM is much like this book, but even in this there are more details added to distinguish it further from its predecessors. The inclusion of an expanded table of contents, and a simple index, were written exclusively for this limited edition. Also there is a new Publishers Preface, in part explaining the previous publisher's preface to the Deseret Book publication.

There are many details that were omitted in the Deseret Book publication. Here is one example, found early in the book. It concerns a dream that President Kimball had early on in his administration.

The 2005 Deseret Book publication reads as follows:

"Now there was no one on earth to whom he could turn with his problems. Yet he did not feel alone. He dreamed one night that he and President Lee were looking at real estate together. The dream left him with a warm feeling of assurance." [DB9]

The Benchmark Books publication reads as follows:

"But now there was no one on earth to whom he could turn over his problems. Yet he did not feel alone. One night early in his presidency he dreamed of President Lee: He was handsome and happy.

We seemed to be together for a long period of time as we moved around in what seem to be Thatcher, Arizona, looking at real estate…. We did not seem to be hurried. It was very pleasant to be with him. It seemed we did not use our voices but seemed to understand each other.

Eventually he gradually faded out of the picture and left me with a very pleasing, happy mood. Whether it was a dream or a vision, I do not know but it was a most happy experience and I was grateful for it." [BB21]

Included in this volume are not just the details of Spencer's administration, but also the physical frailties of which he endured.

Here are just a few of the ailments he faced: a heart condition, throat cancer, degenerative arthritis, glaucoma, cataracts, and even some instances of hallucination following surgery to reduce the pressure on his brain due to subdural hematomas.[BB588-89]. All are recounted here in some detail. There were many other ailments to which President Kimball also endured, too many to specify in a review.

Through it all, I was struck time and again with his resilience, always struggling to continue on. This is not to say that he didn't let the challenges of his health get to him. Over the years he would be heard to say on occasion that he didn't know why he was still here, his body was broken, and his voice mostly gone. Many times as he encountered one health problem after another it would seem as though the end were near, only to find him on the mend, and continuing his work, sometimes traveling within a very short period of time after a major physical ailment. Sometimes he would miss most of General Conference, only to reappear for several sessions at one of the following conferences.

No book would be complete about President Kimball if it did not discuss at some length the revelation received on June 1, 1978. This book has extensive details as to how the revelation came to take place, the Apostles reactions, those who were present, how to go about releasing a statement (some thought it best to wait until General Conference in October of that year). The reaction of Elder McConkie was to release the revelation immediately, "so as to not be forced by Satan into saying they had to do it"[BB355-56]. In LDS Church history there are several defining events but not many equal the importance of the revelation received by President Kimball in relation to the Priesthood being extended to all worthy males, regardless of race or color.

Curt Bench, in his preface to the Special Limited Edition, had this to say: "We express gratitude to Edward Kimball and to Deseret Book for their permission to publish this special limited edition of one of the finest biographies ever written of a prominent LDS Church leader."

I concur with the sentiments expressed above. This truly is a seminal work on the life and legacy of President Spencer W. Kimball. Every once in a while a book comes along that rewrites the rules for publication. This volume, for an LDS publication, does just that. It is a complete unedited version, containing all that the author wants to say, no holds barred, a quintessential biography. Rarely does an author come along with the kind of insight and access that Edward Kimball had to his father and the foresight to know that there was much more to be written.

The shortcomings of this book Edward assures us are not due to his editing out of events, but sometimes the lack of complete access to all the sources. He states: "Despite my personal access to President Kimball, I was never an insider in Church affairs. After my father became President, my interaction with him rarely related to Church administration or doctrine. He never discussed confidential matters with me, or any other family member for that matter" BB-Preface10. On that subject he also had this to say: "I had access to correspondence files in my parents' home office, but not to the correspondence kept at my father's Church office".

In spite of these omissions, the book is a lengthy, detailed, well-written accounting of the years that President Kimball was President of the Church. The author spent many years collecting documents and correspondence, and kept a detailed journal of his own, recounting events in President Kimball's later years. It is a testament to the author's tenacious love for the story, and for his father. Edward wanted to preserve his father's legacy; he has done just that with this publication. It is a great biography of a great man. Unfortunately, the book is out of print, with no 2nd printing expected. If you can find a copy of this publication it is well worth owning. If you are unable to find a hardback copy, don't let the eye strain stop you from reading it on the computer.